Sheet binder



March 193 8. c. D. TRUSSELL 2,112,389

SHEET BINDER Filed April 24, 1955" Zmm, ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 29,1938] UNITED STATE 5 PATENT oar-Ice kcepsie, N. Y., a corporation or NewYork Application April 24, 1935, Serial No. 1'i.91'l

7 Claim!- (CL 28145) This invention relates to improvements in ringbound books and more particularly to an improved metal binder for blankbooks, advertising pamphlets, stenographic note books, and books of asimilar character.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple inexpensive book ofthe type which includes a plurality oi thin sheets bound betweensuitable covers by means of, a metal binder. Prelera'bly the binder ismade of wire which may be bent to such form as to be readily passedthrough perforations in the margins of the sheets and covers which areto be bound; and then further bent to form a plurality of rings whichwill securely hold the sheets and covers in their proper relation.

It is another object of the invention to so term the wire that when itis finally bent to clasp the sheets together it will provide a pluralityoi rings which are substantially circular in conformation.

Further. objects and features 01' the invention will be more apparentfrom the following description to be read in connection with the accom-25 panying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a piece 0! wirefrom which a binding element for a book may be made in accordance withthis invention;

Fig. 2 is a like view of the wire after it has been bent to form aseries of reversely disposed loops all lying in the same plane;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the bent wire of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the wire illustrated in I Figs. 2 and 3 afterit-has been further bent to 35 form a partly closed sheet binder;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the binder illustrated in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a fragmentary portion of a sheet of paper orotherthin material, any

40 reasonable number of hlch may be bound together by means of a metalbinder formed as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a sheet of heavier material, two of which maybe used as covers for 45 a plurality oi! sheets similar to the one shownin Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view through a pad of sheets,a pair oi!covers, and a partly formed binding device such as is shown in Figs. 4and 5;

Fig. 9-shows a pad of sheets and covers after the binding device iscompletely formed;

Fig. 10 isan end view of the wire of Fig. 2 after its end portions only,adjacent the loops, have been bent to circular form; 5 Fig. 11 is an endview or the wire 61 Fig. 10

' parts of the wire lie in the same plane.

' propriate material,

to its final form. the show- 11 iorming no part of this after it hasbeen bent ing of Figs. 10 and invention;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a modified form of sheet binderincorporating the principles of '5 the'lnventlon; and

Fig. 13 is an end view oi the binder after it has been bent to finalform.

In the drawing, similar designations referring to similar parts, numeralit designates a piece of lo relatively soft wire or other pliablematerial which may be bent to form a plurality of reverseiy disposedloops it and it connected by straight portions it. As is shown in Figs.2' and 3, all

The loops is it and straight portionsit lorm series of prongs it-whichare disposed in side by side relation. The prongs, as is best-seen inFig. 2, are interconnected at one of their ends by the loops, orconnecting elements, i8; and spaced 20 apart at their other ends. It isevident that the radii oi the loops is may be varied to vary the widthof the prongs it and that the radius oi the connecting elements it maybe varied to increase of Fig. 12

or decrease the distance between the prongs.

Each 01 the prongs it is then rounded at its ends, adjacent the loops itand M, to a ture corresponding substantially to the curve-- ture of acircular ring the circumference of which approximates the length oi theprong; and reversely bent substantially midway between its ends so as toform a crimp or reentrant portion I ll. As can be seen from Figs. d and5, each prong now comprises two' substantially semi circular sheetattaching elements'whioh are interconnected by the crimp or-reentrantportion. An end view oi the wire (Fig. d) appro aim-1:. the shape of theletter E, ,or'ii' inverted the numeral 3. In any event, where the'termE-shape is used, it is intended to refer to a plurality of to parallelprongs which are interconnected at one of their ends and spaced apart attheirother ends, rounded at both; of their ends and provided with acrimp, or reentrant portion, subs ntlally: midway between the ends. Thewire, who been bent to this form, is ready to be used in binding anumber oi! sheets together in a manner which will hereinafter he madeclear.

In Figure 6 is illustrated a lraent of one of a number oi. sheets id ofpaper, or other .ap-

which may be bound together to form a book as contemplated by thisinvention. Such sheets may be perforated along one edge as at 19 toprovide a series of openin through which the prongs ii of the bindingdevice may be passed. The width of the perforations l9, and the spacingtherebetween, is of course dependent upon the radii of loops I3 and I4.The perforations may comprise openings of oblong form, as illustrated,or any other appropriate form of perforation may be used. In Fig. 7 isshown a fragment of a sheet of material 20 which is of suitablethickness and stillness to be used as a protective cover for a pluralityof sheets 18. These sheets, or covers, I8

are perforated along one edge, as at 2|, in such mannerthat when theyare superimposed upon sheets la, the perforations IS in the sheets '8will register with the perforations 2| in the covers 20.

In buildingup a book or pad, any desired number of sheets i8 may besuperimposed one upon another and, if desired, enclosed between a pairof covers 20, after which the partially closed prongs, or sheetattaching elements, 16 of the binding device may be thrust through theperforations l9 and 2| of the sheets and covers respectively, as isshown in Fig. 8. The ends of the prongs may then be brought together toform a plurality of completely closed sheet attaching elements or ringswhich will hold the sheets, and if used, covers, in their properassembled relation. The necessary bending may be done either by hand orby means of dies 22, as shown in Fig. 8. When force is applied to therounded portions of the prongs I6 the wire tends to bend about thereentrant portion I! as a center. In eil'ect the curvature of thereentrant portion is reversed so that it conforms substantially with thecurvature of the rounded portions of the prong. Hence, when the ends ofthe prongs are brought adjacent each other, the resulting closed sheetattaching elements will be substantially circular in conformation (as isshown in Fig. 9).

While a binder which comprises a series of connected sheet attachingelements as shown in Fig. 5 has certain advantages, it is apparent thatindividual sheet attaching elements may be used jectionable because theif desired. Thus, attaching element the end portions Fig. 12 shows asingle sheet which is formed by rounding I 32) and [4b of a short pieceof wire, sheet metal, or other pliable material, to a desired curvature,and crimping, or reversely bending, the material at some point betweenits ends to provide a reentrant portion l'lb. One, or more, of thesesheet attaching elements may be inserted in the perforations of aplurality of superposed sheets and the end portions i 3b and b thenbrought into juxtaposition in any desired manner. The resulting sheetattaching elements will b; of the desired configuration as shown in Fig.l 1

Fig. 10 shows a sheet binder of the type disclosed in a loo-pendingapplication No. 741,360, filed August 25, 1934, by the present inventorand a co-inventor. This binder is formed bybending a piece of pliablematerial to the shape shown in Fig. 2; and then rounding the loopportions i311 and Ila of the prongs Ilia in such manner that an end viewof the wire is c-shaped. When this type'of binder is inserted in a bookof the character herein described, and loops lia and a are pressedtogether, the resulting sheet attaching elements tend to assume anelliptical or oval shape, as is shown in Fig. 11, unless some specialmeans is resorted to to prevent it. In other words, the metal tends tobend sharply at one point, thus forming a projection on each ring. shapemay in some instances be regarded as obprojections on the rings edges tobe bound, said This oval tend to impede, or hinder, the proper turningof the sheets in the book. By reentrant portion, in the prongs it hasbeen found that this difliculty is substantially overcome; and that thering formed by pressing the loops together is substantially circular.Consequently, when a, binding device. of this type is used theappearance of the book is somewhat improved, and no impeding projectionsare formed on the rings which would tend to hinder the proper tuming ofits sheets.

It is apparent that a binder of the type contemplated by the presentinvention is not limited to use in a book precisely as is herein shown,nor is it limited to the precise shape herein shown, but may be used ina variety of ways, some of which are shown in the co-pendin'gapplication to which reference has hereinbefore been made.

What is claimedv is:

.1. A partly completed binder for a plurality of sheets havingperforations along an edge thereof consisting of a binding wire which isbent to form a plurality of prongs disposed in a side by side relation,each prong being free at one end and connected to a neighboring prong,or prongs, at'

the other, each of said prongs being bent into a pair of connectedsubstantially semi-circular sheeting attaching elements and crimpedapproximately midway between its ends in such manner as to cause its endportions to be spaced from-each other.

2. A partly completed binder for a plurality of sheets havingperforations along an edge thereof consisting of a plurality of parallelmetal prongs which are joined together at one set of their correspondingenda each of said prongs being crimped substahtially midway between itsends, and rounded proximate both of its ends to form a pair of connectedsemi-circular parts the free ends oi which are spaced apart.

3. A partly completed binder for a plurality of sheets havingperforations along an edge thereof consisting of a plurality of wireprongs which are, disposed in side by side relation, joined together atone of their ends, and spaced apart at their other ends, each of saidprongs being rounded at its ends and crimped at substantially itsmidpoint in such manner than an end view of each prong isof E shape.

4. A partly completed sheet binder constructed of pliable material andadapted for use in binding into book form a plurality of superimposedsheets. having registering perforations along the binder comprising aplurality of but partly closed sheet attaching elements spaced inaccordance with the perforations in the sheets to be bound and beingdisposed in a side by side relation with one set of their correspondingends united by an aligned series of connecting elements, each attachingelement having end portions of the approximate curvature of a circularring of a circumference equal to the length of the prong and anintermediate portion of reverse curvature such as to form an externalreentrant portion between its end portions and cause its free end to bespaced from its opposite end, the binder being thus adapted to have thefree ends of its partly closed attaching elements thrust through theperforations in the sheets to be bound and'bent to the forms ofapproximately circular, closed rings by reversing the curvature of theintermediate portions and causing it to conform with that of the endportions.

5. A partly completed sheet binder adapted for use in binding into bookformpa forming a crimp, O1

plurality of imperimposed sheets having registering perforations alongthe edges to be bound, said binder comprising a series of prongs spacedin accordance with the perforations in the sheets to be bound and formedfrom successive portions of a piece of pliable, metal wire united witheach other at corresponding ends by an aligned series of interveningconnecting portions, the prongs being bent into partly closed sheetattaching elements, each having end portions of the approximatecurvature of a circular ring of a circumference equal to the length ofthe prong and an intermediate portion of reversed curvature such as toform an external reentrant portion between its end portions and causeits free end to be spaced from its opposite end, the

binder being thus adapted to have the free ends 1 of its partly closedloops thrust through the perforations in the sheets to be bound and bentto the forms of approximately circular, closed rings by reversing thecurvature oiithe intermediate portions and causing it to conform withthat of the end portions.

doubled upon themselves and 6. A partly completed binding device for astack of sheets having registering perforations along one edgecomprising a partly closed ring of substantially uniform throughouthaving substantially semi-circular end portions joined by an interveningportion of reverse curvature such as to leave the free ends of the ringspaced apart for insertion through the perforations of the sheets.

7. A partly completed binder for a plurality of sheets havingregistering perforations along an edge thereof comprising a thin stripof material of uniform width, thickness, and strength throughout havingsubstantially semi-circular an intervening portion of reverse curvaturesuch as to leave the free ends of the strip spaced apart for insertionthrough the perforations in the sheets.

end portions joined by CLARENCE D. 'IRUSSELL.

thickness and strength i

